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Guillen getting close to shaking up offense

Guillen getting close to shaking up offense

SAN FRANCISCO -- Flying cross-country gave Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen plenty to think about. He gave serious thought to making dramatic changes to a struggling lineup.

But after giving the matter plenty of thought, Guillen decided to stay the course, at least a little bit longer.

"If I make a major, drastic change with the lineup, then I'm going to show them the tendency to panic," Guillen said Tuesday before the Marlins opened a three-game set with the Giants at AT&T Park.

Guillen quickly qualified that he may be forced to shuffle things around in a few days if the results don't start improving immediately.

In April, the production simply wasn't there.

Miami's 73 runs scored were the fewest ever by the franchise in March and April combined. The team batting average in the first month was .228, which only tops the .220 mark the 1996 club posted.

"I've sent a message," said Guillen, who threw early batting practice at AT&T Park on Tuesday afternoon. "The leash has got to be shown. You're talking about 50 at-bats, 70 at-bats."

What Guillen wants to see is better approaches and quality at-bats.

"Right now, we're not swinging at strikes," the manager said. "If you're not swinging at strikes, you're going to see the same game every day. We're not making adjustments. We have to make an adjustment very quick.

"But if things don't change the next couple of days, obviously, we have to do something about it."